A Study on the Prospects and Potential Threats to the Hospitality Industry in India

Abstract

The hospitality sector in India plays a vital role in terms of contributions to the economy of the country as an employment generator. The much wanted growth in the tourism sector of the country is in fact dependent on the growth and development of the hospitality sector. However, the ability of the hospitality sector to remain viable, profitable and competitive in the years to come will depend on its ability to foresee emerging trends and then capitalize on them. This is most essential, given that India, despite having high tourist potential, attracts far lesser foreign tourists as compared to smaller countries like Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. This paper examines the key trends that are set to emerge in the hospitality sector in the country over the next decade. An exploratory methodology was used in this research including both theoretical and empirical methods. From the theoretical studies, it was found that these key trends include the growth of domestic tourism, the emergence of medical tourism as the key attraction in India, the development of tier 2 and tier 3 cities as important tourist hubs and the shift in tourist traffic away from luxury formats which have hitherto dominated the hotel industry and towards economically priced mid – level and budget hotels.